Cintia Mano

Keynote Speaker: Innovation, Leadership, and Investment

Bringing the perspectives of an executive, founder, and angel investor to conversations on innovation, leadership, and investment.

Keynote Speaker: Innovation, Leadership, and Investment

Bringing the perspectives of an executive, founder, and angel investor to conversations on innovation, leadership, and investment.

beyond hype and vanity metrics

An international speaker, executive leader and angel investor, who speaks about what truly drives sustainable growth.

Awarded as Europe’s most influential female business angel

GOLDEN AURORA 2025

About Me

Cintia Mano is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur with over two decades of leadership experience in diverse industries such as telecom, mining, oil & gas and venture capital.

She led large-scale transformation initiatives, managed multicultural teams and co-created a community of more than 300 angel investors who funded 100+ startups across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

She was awarded the Golden Aurora 2025 – Most Influential Female Angel Investor in Europe and is part of the SW50 Global Women Leadership Community (Santander/LSE).

Cintia is also co-author of Angel Investing Explained, available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Today, she speaks internationally about leadership, innovation and investing, always with a grounded, data-informed and human approach.
I am an executive and entrepreneur with more than two decades of leadership experience across telecom, mining, oil & gas, and venture capital.

My career has been shaped by a continuous journey of reinvention, evolving from corporate executive to founder and, ultimately, to angel investor. This path gives me a unique, 360-degree understanding of how innovation happens from the inside out, and from the ground up.

I have built and led multicultural teams, coordinated large-scale transformations, and managed complex operations across several countries.

I also founded and ran my own company, experiencing firsthand the realities of building, growing, and sustaining a business.

As an investor, I helped build and led a community of more than 300 angel investors who funded over 100 startups across Europe, Latin America, the United States, and the Middle East.

Personally, I have invested in more than 30 startups across multiple continents, giving me practical insight into global innovation, founder challenges, and early-stage value creation.

My work has been recognized with the Golden Aurora 2025 – Most Influential Female Angel Investor in Europe, and I am part of the SW50 Global Women Leadership Community, a global program by Santander and the London School of Economics for high-impact women leaders.

I am the co-author of the book Angel Investing Explained, published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

My mission is to democratize access to information about startup investing, empowering both investors and founders to make better, more informed decisions.

I am also committed to inspiring young people to take ownership of their careers and embrace new perspectives, drawing on my own story of constant evolution and role changes.

Today, I speak internationally about leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship and career changes, always with a grounded, practical, and human approach.

My goal is to help leaders, founders, and investors build stronger teams, make smarter decisions, and create more resilient organizations.

As featured in

My Books

Angel Investing Explained: Demystifying early investment. A complete guide to start investing in startups.

This book is a comprehensive guide to angel investing for beginners, covering everything from the basics of investing in startups and the key principles to consider when evaluating investment opportunities, to tips for building a successful angel investment portfolio and exercise potential returns. Whether you're gathering information about angel investing as a beginner or as a seasoned investor, you will find valuable information to enhance your knowledge and skills and a perfect resource to help you navigate the exciting and rewarding world of investing in startups.

Desmistificando o investimento anjo: Explicando como funciona o investimento em fases iniciais. Um guia completo para começar a investir em startups.

Desmistificando o investimento anjo é um guia completo para o investimento em startups em fases iniciais. Abrange desde os fundamentos do investimento anjo e os princípios-chave a considerar ao avaliar oportunidades de investimento em startups, até dicas sobre como começar a investir, explorar, identificar e avaliar oportunidades, negociar termos e, por fim, construir um portfólio de investimento de sucesso e maximizar retornos.

Descifrando las claves del éxito en la inversión en startups: Una guía completa para empezar a invertir en startups.

Este libro es una guía completa sobre inversión ángel para principiantes. Abarca desde los fundamentos de la inversión en startups y los principios clave a considerar al evaluar oportunidades de inversión, hasta consejos para construir una cartera exitosa de inversión ángel y aprovechar las rentabilidades potenciales. Tanto si se informa sobre inversión ángel como principiante o como inversor experimentado, encontrará información valiosa para ampliar sus conocimientos y habilidades, y un recurso perfecto para desenvolverse en el emocionante y gratificante mundo de la inversión en startups.

My Articles

Just a few of my clients

I’ve had the opportunity to work with Cintia Mano on several projects - in Europe, Brazil and India. She is one of the most strategic and versatile professionals I know. As a speaker, she combines her experience as an investor, advisor and leader, demonstrating a rare ability to bring practical guidance and insights on complex themes such as international expansion and fundraising.

Rodrigo Olmedo Director of UGlobally

Having Cintia Mano as a speaker at our event was truly enriching. Her talk brought a rare combination of depth and clarity on topics such as angel investing, career transitions, the European startup ecosystem, and the internationalization of startups. She adapted the content to the audience’s needs, delivering practical insights, global perspectives, and highly relevant guidance for founders, investors, and professionals in transition. Cintia connects complex themes with accessible language, creating an engaging experience for everyone in the room.

Lucimar Dantas Head Hubs Rio - Ibmec / Rio Innovation Week

Cintia brought great energy and insight to the event, her ability to connect with the audience really stood out. The preparation was thorough and the content spot-on - it added real value to our community.​ Cintia brings a natural warmth and humanity to discussions that really draws people in.

Stewart Noakes Co-founder and CEO - Canopy Community

Cintia is one of those people you can truly count on, not only for her commitment and availability, but also for the quality of her work. We collaborated on thematic panels, mentoring sessions, and pitch-competition juries, and Cintia consistently delivered value and added something meaningful to all our initiatives.

Maria Eugenia Mascarenhas Associate Director - Nova SBE Haddad Entrepreneurship Institute

Invite Cintia to Speak

Talks delivered in English or Portuguese.